2022 Archive
January 20
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What are my motivations to run?
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Make America Safe and Secure Again
Over the past 40 years, the United States has literally exported 8 million jobs and 50 000 factories to foreign countries. All in the insensible and uncontrolled appetite for cheap labor and cheap markets. Literally, entire industries disappeared from our country. As a result, the middle class lost a major source of income from good jobs and was forced to accept mediocre menial jobs, often leading to serious financial family support issues resulting in family breakdowns and also in a visible increase in crime. That is totally unacceptable and we must make every reasonable effort to bring the jobs back and/or create new ones by utilizing our innovative potential and the newest technologies available such as robotics, AI, and quantum computing.
At one time, our industrial dominance was the envy of the entire world. Not anymore! We can definitely reverse this dangerous course if our government, in cooperation with the private sector, provides the necessary assistance and creates suitable conditions to jump start brand new and modern industrial zones dedicated to very specific industrial/technological developments such as: AI, 5G, quantum computing, robotics and automation. Since some already exist on both the West and the East Coasts, the Midwest should be an obvious target region for accelerated development of such projects on a large scale. My goal is to make Illinois the Silicon Valley of the Midwest.
One final note regarding jobs! The admission of China into the World Trade Organization has certainly led to a decrease in the number and quality of jobs. Since 2001, export of US jobs has dramatically increased. Somebody at some point should have realized that 1.3 billion people entering the world job market would have detrimental consequences. It was a very serious mistake which has compounded the shrinkage of our jobs. Moreover, by allowing China to enter the world economic stage we created the
perfect conditions and paved the way for the stealing of intellectual property and exploitation of the non-tariff world order by a nation which does not follow any accepted norms of behavior.
Without any doubt, the subject of our huge and uncontrolled National Debt is avoided by many, even the most seasoned politicians. It is a very perilous topic and they would rather promise a train ride to the moon, and all kinds of money which they do not have.
Currently, our National Debt stands at nearly 23 trillion dollars. In early 2009, it stood at 10 trillion, and in 2016, at 18 trillion. In just ten years, we more than doubled our National Debt which we have accumulated as a country during the last 200 years. Our National Debt now outpaces our GDP percentagewise, and it now stands at 133% of annual GDP.
That is totally unprecedented and it has reached alarming proportions. Any sane person will admit that such conditions cannot last forever, and they will not cure our well-being as a prosperous country.
We must act quickly and decisively to stop this run-away debt train. I think that the very first order of business, as unpopular as it may be, is to initiate a public debate about this issue and let the financial/economic experts step in to offer specific solutions to cure the national scourge. As a United States Senator, I will fight for the comprehensive review of all entitlement programs to identify all culprits which contribute the most to our annual debt. I will fight to prescribe and enforce solutions to prevent the inevitable economic nightmare.
If one currently listens to what the Democratic party presidential candidates propose as tax policy to improve the economic well-being of our country, one can be totally confused at the magnitude of their plans for the solution of “How to steal from Paul to pay Peter.” That is exactly what they do. No one can deny that this impacts the middle class very seriously, since the middle class should be the key to our solution of improving the economy. Personally, it is hard even for me to judge how effective the current tax system is. If corporate giants such as Amazon have reported a profit maybe only once in their existence, t would seem reasonable that they report losses and pay no taxes. Unbridled business expansion , without paying any taxes, should not be allowed! Along the same lines, we must bring back to the US all expatriate income tax due from companies doing business abroad, by giving the companies a special onetime deduction.
Despite serious efforts of economy-minded Presidents such as the late President Reagan or President Trump, something indeed must be done, if our desire is the wish to expand our economy to ensure continued prosperity of our country. We must eliminate all existing loopholes in the tax system but above all, simplify the tax code.
Currently for the 2019-2020, there are seven Federal Income Tax brackets, from the lowest 10% to the highest 37%. On the other hand, many of the presidential hopefuls are suggesting even taxes as high as 90%, which leaves us 10% away from a totally Marxist style state-controlled economy. It is high time to look around the world for some possible alternative solutions.
My desire is to help generate a public debate which, with the assistance of experts, will result in an agreement on the right course. Again, I would favor a slow introduction of new programs without shock waves of adopting the final form too quickly.
When looking around the world for examples of very successful countries with very high per capita GDP and high levels of wealth, one will quickly notice that the country of Singapore has one of the highest GDPs of $90,000 ($60,000 for the US) and at the same time enjoys one of the lowest tax rates in the world with 17% for corporate and 22% individual income tax rates. Needless to say, they were
also number one in the PISA test scores for 2015. Although Singapore has only 6 million inhabitants as opposed to 330 million in the US, this example cannot be ignored. There are also many other countries which effectively use low tax rates to the benefit of their own economies.
The idea of a 17% corporate tax was floated around during the Reagan administration. While it did not come to fruition, the reduction of taxes he adopted was highly effective and it stimulated the US economy immensely.
A hidden form of non-discrete taxation are also the rules and regulations which our citizens and institutions are harassed with every day to generate additional revenues for local, state or federal governments. We must fight to remove all such regulations when socialist-minded and willing executioners use their agenda straight out of Alinsky’s playbook to find yet another expensive regulation to punish you for being a cooperative citizen.
The focus of our tax reforms should remain in cohesion with our ultimate goal, which is to restore and expand the shrinking middle class of America. The wealth of every nation is always measured by the high percentage of its middle class. In the 50’s and 60’s, we enjoyed very healthy middle-class growth, and we must restore it now if we are to prosper as a country again. To that end, any lowering of our corporate taxes should always be accompanied by an increase in employment, not otherwise.
The bottom line is that if we wish to expand our economy, we should look very hard at lowering the tax rates rather than increasing them without an end in sight.
For many decades, the people of the United States and, for that matter, of the entire world, have worked very hard to adopt social programs from which all of us benefit today. As a country, the USA, has provided examples for many others to follow, and to be fair, we have learned from others as well. It is therefore our responsibility to make every reasonable effort to maintain such high social standards. To maintain our social safety net, we must be very careful not to overspend to live beyond our limited capacities. After all, as the popular adage says, “money does not grow on trees.” Currently, we are on board a runaway train that is accelerating at a rapid pace when it comes to living beyond our means. We are adding to the unstoppable national debt to live today at the cost of our future generations. We must make every effort in our powers to reverse this dangerous trend by overhauling and re-examining many programs to eliminate wasteful spending, duplication and sometimes squander or even outright fraud. I think that it is almost criminal when our senior citizens and/or veterans are left in neglect and without sufficient social support. We should be vigilant and proactive to check on their well-being before it reaches scandalous levels.
Similarly, our younger generations which enter the job market, must be supported as well. We have to ensure that young families can establish themselves without worry about employment consequences. Therefore, we must mandate and guarantee them maternity leaves for an extended period of time, as it is done in many countries of the world, with Europe at the forefront. Along the very same lines, each employer with 25 or more employees should provide adequate health insurance coverage.
It should be our solemn duty that this and the next generation of the workforce is protected at all costs, regardless of any prevailing infatuation with socialism, or any other “ism.” Before any attempts are made to save all, even those who have not yet stepped on our soil, it must remain our moral obligation to place an umbrella of protection in support over them during the most precious moments in their and in their families’ lives.
It did not take long to realize that the highly acclaimed Obama Care program based on socialist ideas proved to be a trap for the poorest and the youngest who are now being punished if they do not join the plan, or find out later (in the execution of the plan) that their government mandated insurance is prohibitively expensive. They now find that they cannot afford the plan because of astronomically high deductibles which often exceed $10,000 a year. Just remember that this is pure socialism at work in its final execution stage, which seemed very beautiful and appealing at first.
Any new social program introduced should be very carefully examined and we should look to private enterprises to underwrite the costs associated with such programs. This is our new and real challenge, our moral duty and obligation to our next generations if we want to maintain good living standards today and tomorrow for all of our citizens.
Despite of our elite universities, generally, our education system shows many symptoms of structural deficiencies when comparing our test/achievement scores with many countries of the world. The 2015 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) test average scores for mathematics, science and reading, show the United States in 31st place and China in 10th. More importantly, considering math scores, the United States is in 39th place and China is in 6th place. Test scores for 2018, when released, will probably be quite similar, if not worse. That really answers the obvious question – why is China dominating the world in industrial competition today? If we do not improve our educational system, I am afraid, with time, we will lose the competitive advantage which we once held. Our educational system is in dire straits and it needs to be repaired and improved to compete more effectively not just domestically but primarily with the rest of the world.
The delusional policies of “No child left behind”, which sound so beautiful and so promising, have resulted in a state of affairs where everybody is left behind. We must allow private education to flourish to speed up the process. And yes, we must create a suitable environment for the selected few who exhibit an extraordinary intellectual propensity to be tutored within their own groups, at their own momentum, otherwise, we are just wasting their enormous potential and talents. Also, we must stress engineering curricula once again (before we reach Mars this time), since today many an employer cannot find qualified technical personnel to work in the new advanced technologies.
To be honest, not all jobs require university or college degrees, therefore, we must expand our vocational school training system with 1-year and/or 2-year job training programs for the most popular trades to allow our youth quick entry into the job market.
If you listen to the news media buzz today, you will learn that our civilization is doomed to go extinct in ten years or maybe even sooner. Why? Because of man-generated unsustainable CO2 emissions, which, they claim, are at astronomical levels that lead to global warming and to inevitable death of planet earth.
Did these climate experts and/or alarmists bother to verify the above theories? During the course
of life on our planet, the earth’s climate went thru numerous cycles of warming and cooling. Most recently, warming occurred in the 15th and 18th centuries and cooling in in the 17th and 19th centuries. No one can challenge the fact that during these periods, all emissions were not made by man’s activity but due to other natural phenomena totally beyond man’s control. Simply put, our earth’s climate goes thru such cycles and this time is no different.Regardless, it does not mean that we should not curb CO2 emissions, but we must be very careful and cautious when addressing the issue since there is no magic bullet. Principally and under no circumstances we should not jeopardize our own job markets to solve the problems of the entire world. Moreover, let’s be realistic and look at the real culprits, e.g. China
annually emitting nearly 10,000 tons of CO2 whereas the US emits half of that. And let’s be blunt, China has no desire to curb their jobs in their own polluting industries. In fact, when we ourselves eliminate environment sensitive jobs, China quickly moves in to fill the gap and create new jobs in their air polluting industries. Oh yes, they will quickly sign each and every international agreement calling for reductions of emission levels. That is China for you – preaching to the world one thing and doing something totally different.
Not only does China have a total disregard for the air pollution controls, but during the last forty years they’ve also managed to pollute their own river systems. Mao Tse Tung in his young years could safely swim in the Yangtze river, but would he dare to repeat the same feat today, since the Yangtze river has become literally a sewer system? This is what I was told by many local villagers during my trip to China some years ago.
All of the well-meaning environmentalists should take a very close look at the world polluters to recognize the obvious, the United States, and Western Europe are the environmental leaders of the World. They are very conscious and sensitive with respect to environment controls, with a myriad of laws in the books to punish polluters. I find it ridiculous that we rush to close our coal mines and leave tens of thousands of people without any dignity for awork ethic spanning many generations. Any planned reductions of jobs under any circumstances should always be phased in over a long period of time without disturbing the livelihood of working people such as it is currently implemented in Germany.
The approach which we should take is as follows – First, create new jobs, or find replacement for the jobs before you eliminate a specific branch.
Let’s be very honest, if the environmentalists are really concerned about the issue of our environment, first and foremost, they should put the world on the notice to eliminate plastic packaging, bottles and other mass produced plastic utility items. Not just rivers, but also our oceans show the scourge of plastic pollution which results in the destruction of marine life.
Save the planet: yes! but first, save the United States. Let others to do their own homework as well! Our mission is limited and we cannot save the entire world.
Today, the immigration issue is the most divisive and controversial topic in the US. Actually, it has been an ongoing controversy since 1924, when the first immigration laws were adopted by the US government. Today, this system is totally obsolete and unsuited for modern immigration challenges.
To effectively resolve this issue, first and foremost, we are in a very dire need, not just merely to tweak it, but to overhaul the entire 100-year old immigration system which we follow today. As a general guiding principle of immigration policies, we must agree, that they should work in concert with and for the benefit of our economy. It is a very sensitive and challenging undertaking, since, currently the whole world is in turmoil of migratory movements with over 250 million people worldwide on the move to find a new home.
The utopian vision that we should lead, or better yet, save the entire world from existing imminent dangers, simply put, is unrealistic. We cannot save the entire world, but we should, in a controlled manner, adopt our immigration policies to serve our national interests and goals. If I were to suggest the first change we should adopt, it is to get rid of the illusionary ‘Visa Lottery’ program which invites an immigration verification nightmare and seriously undermines our qualification criteria. The new
immigration policies should be designed very carefully to allow for controlled and legal admissions of new immigrants. The new immigration laws should literally allow for managed recruitment service centers for new immigrants inside participating countries. Applying immigrants should be very carefully screened to meet our pre-established criteria. The borders should be used only for control of legal immigration. When correctly implemented, and when we utilize the most modern technologies to control our borders, the “physical wall” will become irrelevant. Although, we should all agree, that we must be in control of our immigration quotas as required by our economic needs.
Also, I believe that our goal should be, first and foremost, to recognize the fact that our neighboring countries, Mexico and Canada, should be treated in a preferential manner based on the nearly two century-old Monroe doctrine – “America for Americans”. No one should have a right to demand that we apply universally policies to the entire world when our own neighbors are first in line. The preferential treatment of our neighboring countries should also be adopted to our economic policies. Let’s be clear on one issue, if we adopted more cordial treatment of our southern neighbors over the last forty years instead of relying totally on the China card, we most probably would never need to go through the tariff wars and the economic and military threats we face from China today. The fact is that before we can absorb additional waves of migration, we must create economic conditions for such an outcome. Therefore, our first order of business is to create suitable economic conditions by bringing back the 50,000 factories exported to China and elsewhere. If we do so, we will be on the way to better accommodation for our own citizens and for our new immigrants.
Would our economy be able to absorb the additional millions of immigrants? The most recent stats show the United States has nearly a 14% population of immigrants, Canada 22% and Australia 28%. Without any doubt, if other developed world countries did absorb higher percentages of immigrants, the United States can do the same. Most importantly, Lets first work very hard together with the Executive branch to create better economic conditions and opportunities for the United States in the coming years. It can be done! Let’s make it happen to the satisfaction of us all!
During the course of human history, one can observe the emergence of powerful states basically due to their military and economic power, which insured their survival for many years. In quite similar fashion, the United States, especially since the end of World War II, has become the dominant player on the world stage. To support our interests, we created a vast worldwide network of military bases. Currently, in addition to 1,100,000 soldiers in the contiguous United States, we deploy over 165,000 soldiers in more than 150 countries across the world to protect our national interests.
Also, as world history shows, such a state of affairs cannot last forever without straining the resources of the country, which in many cases leads to a collapse of the country’s power status. The United States is no different, and currently our worldwide military presence is most definitely impacting our available resources. The question is, how long can we afford to be the world policeman and what is the price we are willing to pay for such a privileged status.
The easiest way to reduce the strain on our resources, is to reduce the military under command. Undoubtedly, we can pursue such a course of action due to the fact our military is the most advanced technologically and as long as we are very successful in weaponizing each fighting soldier. We can do much more with a smaller force. But in the end, it seems that we must also alter our strategies of conflict resolution and of eliminating existing and new threats. A classic example is the development of a new entrepreneurial military strategy of A2/AD (Anti-Access/Area Denial) where technological innovations create low cost solutions to engage our adversaries. Also, the use of drone technology should be exploited to its fullest potential. President Obama started to use drones very effectively to eliminate the Al-Qaeda threat, without the use of our ground forces. Such effective solutions can most
definitely help us maintain our world power status.
We must also push to the limits our intelligence and surveillance capabilities before we send new soldiers into faraway places.
Finally, our interests and goals abroad can be achieved not just by keeping our soldiers in foreign lands, but by ‘conquering’ the countries of interest economically, and by offering them cooperation in a variety of non-military programs and soft diplomatic solutions. I believe that this is the most effective strategy before we attempt to “conquer and divide”.
When the future of our independence was at stake in 1776, our forefathers adopted the Declaration of Independence. Today, I think we find ourselves in a somewhat similar situation where our global power and economic superiority is under stress by other dominant players on the world stage. In order to maintain the status of the world’s greatest power, which the United States has enjoyed for most of the 20th century, it is also undeniably important for us to maintain the status of the world’s greatest economic power. Perhaps, therefore, it is high time today to adopt a new declaration of independence – the National Declaration of Financial Independence. The purpose of such a national clarion call would be to ensure that the rest of the world still looks at the United States as a model not just for civic rule but also for economic leadership. Although there may be many ideas with regard to such a goal, curbing the National Debt should be our #1 national priority. Securing a dominant position of the US dollar, which it still enjoys in world commerce, is also key to our future and to our Financial Independence. Hopefully, we can still correct the wrongs of our recent past and put our course on a new trajectory to remain the world’s beacon of good governance.
If we diligently and patiently implement the re-making of the American agenda, we will then indeed be well beyond the current phase of President Trump’s clarion call of today to “Make America Great Again,” and we will most definitely awake in the American people the pride and the spirit to
“MAKE AMERICA PROUD AGAIN”
Make America Safe and Secure Again